Roar of the Flying Tigers

[dnoblett]

I have a neighbor lives up the street that was in the OSS as a radio operator working behind the lines in China during WWII, he was near where the flying tigers were stationed in south China, though did not interact with them.

 

On my first trip over to China, our tour guide took us out to a field near Guilin where the AVG operated from, not much to see today, however from what I have been informed there is a museum to the AVG near there.

 

Interesting article about this guy, it seems even though he fought for China, he was treated poorly during the cultural revolution, I am glad someone recognized him for what he did, and got the government to take care of him since the 80's

 

Another thing from the article "He was a Kuomintang pilot captured by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1946, after his fighter jet encountered navigation difficulties.", this sounds a lot like a friend of mine, his father was in the Chinese army, and defected to Taiwan by taking an aircraft, sounds like similar "Navigation Dificulties".

 

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/epaper/attachement/jpg/site181/20110815/b8ac6f890f1b0fb2c59b05.jpg

 

The 91-year-old Wang Yanzhou is the last remaining pilot on the mainland of the famed flying group that defended the country against Japan. An Baijie reports.

 

Veteran Wang Yanzhou says he wishes more people were aware of the part he and his fellow Flying Tigers played during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945). The 91-year-old is the only living former pilot on the Chinese mainland who flew with the 1st American Volunteer Group (1941-1942), which later became part of the Chinese-American Composite Wing (1943-1945), better known as the Flying Tigers.

 

Wang shot down five Japanese aircraft during the war.

 

 

....

 

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/epaper/attachement/jpg/site181/20110815/b8ac6f890f1b0fb2c64809.jpg

 

Previously, Wang's story was little known because of his political background. He was a Kuomintang pilot captured by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1946, after his fighter jet encountered navigation difficulties.

 

 

 

Wang became a trainer of pilots for the PLA air force, but during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), he was treated as an "enemy of the people" because of his political history.

 

There were 381 Chinese pilots in the Flying Tigers unit and most of them left for Taiwan with the Kuomintang after the Communist Party of China (CPC) defeated it.

 

Wang's war heroics were not recognized until 1983, when an official from the United Front Work Department learned of his situation and reported his case to the central government.

 

In 1984, Wang got a certificate recognizing him as a retired leading revolutionary, at the age of 64. He was given a pension of 3,000 yuan ($466) a month, which he says is enough for his daily needs.

 

 

MORE...

 

 

 

http://www.chinadail...nt_13114297.htm

Edited August 15, 2011 by dnoblett (see edit history)

[Beachey]

 

 

Interesting article about this guy, it seems even though he fought for China, he was treated poorly during the cultural revolution, I am glad someone recognized him for what he did, and got the government to take care of him since the 80's

 

 

 

Well since he fought for the Kuomintang during WWII, it is not surprising he was treated badly during the Cultural Revolution. Veterans of the The Long March were treated badly during the Cultural Revolution.

[hankster]

Recently watched 4 episodes of:"Missions That Changed The War: The Flying Tigers " on The Military Channel.

 

They accomplished a lot under Chennault's leadership..........Great History!

[DongDong]

The ¡°Flying Tiger¡± insignia was created by the Walt Disney Company.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tigers

 

I wonder if Mickey approved?

[knloregon]

My history, which is direct, (a member of the Portland Chinese Baptist Church, which I attend) doesn't support this story. The AVG were all American pilots. And there were never that many. (certainly not 381) Chinese did fly for the Kumingtang, but not the Flying Tigers. But there is a proud (Chinese/American) history, untold: Nearly a year before Pearl Harbor, after the US had secretly decided to support China against the Japanese occupation, the word went out that there was a need for Chinese engine mechanics --- who could train on, and maintain the advanced P-40 engines, none of which were supposed to be going over to China. They trained in the midwest, and shipped out (with the planes in containers) from San Francisco in the Spring of 1941. The AVG were scoring significant Japanese kills long before Pearl Harbor, but also under almost constant Japanese bombing attacks. The Chinese/American mechanics worked long hours, and died along with the rest of the ground crew during Japanese bombing, but ultimately, the AVG (and the P-40) became the fear of all Japanese pilots in China.

[BilLing]

AVG. American Volunteer Group. Yes they were all former US military (had to resign their commissions to fight for the Chinese). There is a museum here in Chongqing dedicated to them.

[dnoblett]

My history, which is direct, (a member of the Portland Chinese Baptist Church, which I attend) doesn't support this story. The AVG were all American pilots. And there were never that many. (certainly not 381) Chinese did fly for the Kumingtang, but not the Flying Tigers. But there is a proud (Chinese/American) history, untold: Nearly a year before Pearl Harbor, after the US had secretly decided to support China against the Japanese occupation, the word went out that there was a need for Chinese engine mechanics --- who could train on, and maintain the advanced P-40 engines, none of which were supposed to be going over to China. They trained in the midwest, and shipped out (with the planes in containers) from San Francisco in the Spring of 1941. The AVG were scoring significant Japanese kills long before Pearl Harbor, but also under almost constant Japanese bombing attacks. The Chinese/American mechanics worked long hours, and died along with the rest of the ground crew during Japanese bombing, but ultimately, the AVG (and the P-40) became the fear of all Japanese pilots in China.

 

Yep, for the most part AVG were American pilots. They did train Chinese cadets while over there.

 

Here is an interesting one:

 

Arthur Chin

 

Chin was born in Portland, Oregon to a Chinese father of Cantonese origin and a Caucasian mother of Peruvian background. Motivated by the Japanese invasion of China, Chin enrolled in flight school in 1932. Along with 15 other Chinese Americans, he left for China and joined the Guangdong Provincial Air Force as the first and original group of American volunteer combat aviators, and ultimately integrated into the central government's air force under the KMT. After completion of additional aerial-gunnery training in Munich Germany, he returned to China for combat duty in which he was credited with destroying nine enemy aircraft between 1937-1939. In 1939,....

 

 

Chin is recognized as America's first ace in World War II. A half-century after the war ended, the U.S. government recognized Chin as an American veteran by awarding him the Distinguished Flying Cross. About a month after Chin died, on October 4, 1997, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the American Airpower Heritage Museum in Midland, Texas as the first American ace.

 

After his aviation career finished, Chin was a postal worker in his hometown of Portland. On January 29, 2008, Congressman Representative David Wu (D-Oregon) introduced House Resolution 5220 to name a United States Post Office in Aloha, Oregon after Major Arthur Chin as the "Major Arthur Chin Post Office Building", it was unanimously approved by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. President Bush signed it into law on May 7, 2008

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Chin

 

 

 

More:

 

On a tour to China back in 2005 we visited Guilin, had the tour guide run out to the field where the AVG flew out of in that area. Looks like there is now a nice memorial in that area.

 

http://www.flyingtigerhistoricalorganization.com/